Special Person in My Life Essay Example

Special Person in My Life Essay All of the people that are close to me are important. Indeed, when thinking of people I could possibly talk about, I thought about all of them and they were all interesting in their own ways but, I decided to talk about a wonderful teacher that taught me in the English Language Training Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her name is Kelly Kouchi. Her major was English and one of her ambitions was to get a PhD at UNC Charlotte. Kelly has two children and she wanted to raise them perfectly.   In fact I thought that she was an excellent mother.   Her children were very lucky to have a mother who cared about them the way that Kelly did. Kelly liked to listen to music especially at night. Her favorite singer is Morrissey. I can still see her sitting at her desk with a pencil behind her ear and her light brown hair falling into her face listening to Morrissey’s CD and I can still hear the sound of the man who sounded like eighties techno group.   She also likes to watch snow skiing.   She would get all excited like a child just before opening a present when the person she liked was performing. Her favorite novel is anything by Jane Austen.   She would say â€Å"Know one writes a better love story than Jane Austin.   People say she writes for women, but men could learn a lot from her.† In addition, her favorite movie is lately, Spiderman because it is  an incredible blend of contemporary art and special effects, sci-fi, fantasy and human interests.   I know that it is quite a leap from Jane Austin to Spiderman, but that is like Kelly.   She is so many things and she can be one way one minute and another in just a few seconds.   That is one of the characteristics that I like most about her.   She is unpredictable, but not in a bad way.   She is always fresh and exciting. We will write a custom essay sample on Special Person in My Life specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Special Person in My Life specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Special Person in My Life specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Well, English is my second language, so it is hard for me to write and read in English. In fact, Kelly is the person who taught me to love the English so much. Since her major is English, she always took care of me and gave me some tips about how to write clearly. Obviously, I have learned a lot while I was studying in the institute. She had a way of making learning fun.   She helped me to see English like a mystery.   â€Å"You do know that English is one of the hardest languages to learn?† she would say.   â€Å"If you can tackle it and learn it, then you are very smart.†Ã‚   That was a challenge for me to learn.   I wanted so much to impress her that I made sure that I was going to tackle and learn it just like she said.   I would work through those mysterious rules and learn that each one of them had an exception to it.   One mystery solved would lead to another, and through the help of Kelly, I learned that it could be fun. Unfortunately, after I finished the highest level in the institute, I did not get the required score in my TOEFL exam to be admitted at UNCC. This is the Test of English as a Foreign Language that I needed to pass to go there. I had dreamed of getting in because I loved Charlotte, North Carolina.   The weather there is so pretty most of the year, and the people were nice and courteous to me.   Kelly said that it was because North Carolina is a southern state, and that people are just friendly in the south. Definitely, I was disappointment because I didnt know what to do. She tried to relax me after I got my score. â€Å"It is okay,† she said.   â€Å"You will get much better as time goes on.   There are more places to go to school out there than UNCC.†Ã‚   I knew that, but still I loved it there so much that I did not want to leave. I know that you must be disappointed with your TOEFL score, but remember, that is only  a test.   It is not an exact measure of what you can do with English.   What you do in your classes on a daily basis is by far more important Yes, you are right. But where should I go now? Dont worry. Well find the university that will accept you After a while, we found the university which accepted me in Cookeville, Tennessee. It is called Tennessee Tech University. I was really happy and so excited to go there. Then, I bought for her a perfume that smelled so nice that I wanted someone as kind as her to have it. Thank you very much for the perfume.   It smells lovely!  That was very sweet of you. Please let me know what is going on, I will help you as much as I can, she said and I knew that she meant what she said I went to Tennessee and everything was going well. I met lots of people and I made some friends.   Tennessee is another southern state like North Carolina.   It is not as pretty.   I like that fact that part of North Carolina was on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.   I like to visit and hear the waves crashing.   Hearing them relaxes me.   She called me in the weekend to ask me how it is going with me. I love to hear from her because when I hear her voice on the phone, it is like going back to Charlotte, North Carolina.   Once in a while, I come back to Charlotte to visit Kelly and my friends who were with me in the institute.   I just love them so much.   It is nice when you make friends that you know will always be there for you.   They just love to hear about my life at Tennessee Tech and I love to hear about what their lives are like.   Kelly is always excited to tell me about her children and what they have been doing. They are involved in many things and t hey are good at the things that they do.   Kelly is still trying to be a really good mother to them.   Hopefully, we will be in touch forever.   I think that it is so sad when friends move away from each other and they end up never seeing them or hearing from them again.   Friends are so important in life.   Without them, life wouldn’t be the same. That is a trait that I have.   I love people and appreciate them for the contributions that they make to my life.   My friend Kelly is a good example.   She took the time from her busy life to teach me and others like me English so that we can be successful here in America.   She knows that everyone who lives here will need to learn English so that they can go to school, go to the store, read the signs on the road, and any other place where you would have to talk to someone.   Kelly actually cared about my learning, and now that I am not her student anymore, she still cares about me and what happens to me.   That is what a true friend does.   They never quit caring about you. Kelly cared about all of her students.   She took the same care with them that she took with me.   Sometimes she would invite everyone in the class over to her house.   We would all bring food and after we ate and talked for a long time, we would watch movies and practice keeping up with the language.   It would make Kelly so happy when she would see us having a good time and feeling comfortable.   She would say, â€Å"I know that you miss your countries and that you are far away from home, but you will always have a home at my house.† Kelly helped me learn a different language, but she did much more than that.   She made me feel welcome in a new country.   She helped me with my education, and more important than anything, she became a true friend.   I will always be grateful to her and love her for what she has done for me and many others.   There are not many people out there who care.   It seems like that is something that you do not hear about anymore.   Most people just think of themselves and they only like you for what you can do for them.   As soon as you need them, they are gone because it would mean that they would have to be a giving person.   That is one reason I’m glad that I met Kelly.   She showed me that there are still people out there who are real friends.

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Managers of oil firms like Exxon should personally oversee that strict oil spill prevention and control policies, as recommended by government and non-profit environmental organizations, are implemented at all stages. The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS) greatly affected the animals and humans living there, the economy of Alaska (and the United States), and the environment in the surrounding areas, and the company Exxon was responsible for all this. It was March 1989 when the oil Tanker Exxon Valdez underwent an accident in Prince William Sound (PWS) in Alaska. (US Environmental Protection Agency, n.p.) This accident resulted in a massive oil spill, where more than 11 million gallons of crude oil leaked into the sea and no such oil spill had previously occurred in the history of the United States. (US Environmental Protection Agency, n.p.) A large number of features made the cleanup of this oil spill difficult. The scale and intensity of this oil spill and the remoteness of the site wer e noteworthy features that hindered the efforts of cleanup teams. This was a real test of existing contingency plans for such situations. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this oil spill threatened the commercial fishing business in the area. (US Environmental Protection Agency, n.p.) Moreover, several types of fishes, mammals, birds, and other animals were in danger too because of this oil spill. Alyeska, an organization that represented Exxon, started to cleanup the oil spill. (US Environmental Protection Agency, n.p.) To avoid damage to the ecosystems, some steps were taken to save sensitive surroundings from the effects of the oil spill. Vulnerable environments were recognized and prioritized. However, the effects on the surroundings, especially on animals, were devastating. The means required for a successful cleanup were missing, and necessary resources could not be brought to the accident site in time. Oil ingestion, exposure to oil, and scarcity of edible resources led to a large number of deaths in both mammals and birds. As a reaction to the EVOS accident, Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. This Act necessitated that the Coast Guards should ensure oil vessels and oil firms are following the regulations and rules in this regard. Nowadays, tank hulls are used, which improve the safety of oil vessels in case there is an accident that can cause oil spill. Moreover, due to advancements in technology, communications during navigation have also improved, which makes navigation in seas more secure. Major Effects of the Oil Spill Archaeological Resources Over 3,000 archaeological and historically significant sites were damaged by the oil spill. The clean-up process, pillaging and harm caused by the oil spill all contributed to the destruction twenty four other well known public archaeological sites. The damage assessment survey conducted after the accident was only restricted to public land. Other archeological sites which were on private property also received significant damage. However, the final report was not planned to indentify all of them. Apart from oil contamination caused by the spill, other Reported damages included surface artifacts looting, masking of subtle clues used to identify and classify sites, abuse of ancient burial locations, and destruction of evidence in layered sediments. Designated Wilderness Areas Wilderness or Wilderness Study Areas was the designation of the spill affected waters and tidelands given by Congress or the Alaska State Legislature. In 1989-1990, a huge cleaning process began in the area. A variety of hardware and a huge workforce were employed from different parts of the country. This process caused a drastic and extraordinary increase in population, noise and activities in that quite and undeveloped countryside. By the end of the process, the human concentration and activities in the area went back to its former level. Yet, however, lingering oil is still being witnessed at some sites. Quantitative investigations of lingering oil are still lacking, however, over time, the amount of oil that was left behind after the clean up process is reducing, and the affected areas are in the recovering process. The affected areas were: designated wilderness in the Katmai National Park, wilderness study areas in the Chugach National Forest and Kenai Fjords National Park, and Kachemak Bay Wilderness State Park. Intertidal Communities More than 1,400 miles in Prince William Sound, the Kenai and Alaska peninsulas and in Kodiak Archipelago were badly affected by the oil spill. Around 220 miles of this coastline were heavily affected. Exxon carried around 11 million gallons of crude oil. Researchers believe that about 40-45 percent of the total shipment was washed ashore in the intertidal area. Both the plants and animals living in that environment were significantly affected by the spill that occurred in 1989 and also by the cleaning process that followed in 1990 and 1991. The initial impact covered the entire tidal levels and the complete set of habitats all over the affected site. Residue toxicity testing, documenting abundance and distribution of intertidal organisms and sampling ecological parameters of community structure were all part of the evaluation conducted to examine the spill effects. Blue mussels, periwinkles, oligochaete worms, speckled limpet, common rockweed and several barnacle species were all among the main type of algae and invertebrates that were directly harmed by the spill. At the same time, the normal level of sediment organisms and calm densities decreased. On the treated beaches, a number of moribund calms were found dead. However, the later effects are mainly due to the combination of hot washing water and the oil toxicity. The density and biomass of fish in the affected sites was also decreased as shown by studies conducted in the area against reference figures recorded before 1990. Commercial Fishing Commercial fishing operations suffered huge losses as a result of the spills impact on the fish concentration in the affected waters and also due to the emergency fishing ban that followed the incident. Fishing for salmon, herring, crab, shrimp, rockfish and sablefish was banned in 1989 all over Prince William Sound, Cook Inlet, the outer Kenai coast, Kodiak and the Alaska Peninsula. The ban on Shrimp and salmon commercial fisheries was extended through 1990 in some parts of Prince William Sound. Passive Use Passive use is the admiration of the artistic and natural values of undisturbed sites and the value is a resultant from plainly realizing the resource existence. Damages to passive use are coupled to civic view of damaged resources. The oil spill disaster affected an area considered by the majority of Americans as an undisturbed territory.   The disaster cause great damage to beaches, wild and sea life. Around $2.8 billion are the estimated losses suffered by passive use as a result of the oil spill. This figure was estimated by the state of Alaska and it reflects how much the people are ready to pay in order to protect that territory and prevent another similar accident from occurring in the future. Recreation and Tourism As a result of the oil spill, tourism and recreational access to the affected areas was restricted. Tourism activities in Prince William Sound, Cook Inlet and the Kenai Peninsula were reduced to minimum. Finishing and hunting activates were banned. Access to beaches was also frozen. Tourism shifted from the affected areas to those areas that were safer and as a result, some of the sites lost their old glory. Subsistence The local fifteen main Alaskan native inhabitants who lived in the oil spill affected locality (with a total population of about 2,200 people) relied entirely on natural resources for their daily life. The disaster affected all the available food and water resources which in turn affected the living conditions of the local communities and raised concerns regarding possible health damage that may arise as a result of eating oiled fish, drinking or even bathing in contaminated water. The clean up process that followed the incident also affected the local life style and comfort. Results from Various Researches The crude oil effects on fishes and other living organisms were lead by the Auke Bay Laboratory and its staff. This laboratory, which was established in 1973, was involved in studying similar ever since its establishment. Immediately after the incident, the lab was also involved in studying the effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS). The effects of the oil spill on wild and sea life were examined by the ABL. The lab also monitored the oil level in the territory. Today, after more than 14 years, oil is still impacting the life of the affected areas. Salmon and herring fisheries never returned and the fabric of the bionetwork is still out of sync. The deaths of aquatic mammals and birds resulting from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill are far greater than the deaths in any other such incident. A few species were already becoming extinct before the incident; so the oil spill accelerated the extinction for such species. The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council (EVOSTC) examined around 26 classes of animals (including birds), and only 2 out these 26 classes had recovered till 1999 (ten years after the oil spill). According to Dr. Michael Fry, an authority on seabirds, The Exxon Valdez spill killed nearly ten times as many birds as any other U.S. or European oil spill. The oil spill led to the death of approximately 500,000 birds. Remains on the beaches were found for more than 30,000 birds that belonged to the 90 classes of birds affected by this oil spill. Even then, as noted by Piatt, Lensick, Bulter, Kendziorek, and Nysewander (1990), the real number of marine birds that died was far greater than this 30,000 figure. And the impacts on marine birds did not fade away sooner. Even in the article by Miller in 1999, it is evident that impacts on birds were continuous and also reduced the reproduction in these birds. Fishes also died because of this oil spill. However, the most noteworthy effect on fishes was the long-lasting negative impact on their spawning and rearing environment. Exxons Statement According to the official website of ExxonMobil, The environment in Prince William Sound is healthy, robust and thriving. Thats evident to anyone whos been there, and it is also the conclusion of many scientists who have done extensive studies of the Prince William Sound ecosystem. However, independent studies show that this claim is wrong, as discussed in this paper. According to Page et. al (1996), researchers who were sponsored by Exxon have frequently rejected the proof of continuous impacts of the EVOS to the wildlife. Exxon’s denial of the negative impact of the EVOS is highly unethical and unprofessional. It is also against the concept of corporate social responsibility, which is a major trend in contemporary organizations worldwide. Companies like Exxon should pay attention to corporate social responsibility practices. If such an incident happens, it becomes the company’s ethical, social and professional responsibility to make a formal apology to the whole nation. The responsible personnel should be fired and compensation should be given to all people affected by the incident. Moreover, the company should also pay additional funds to researchers who are studying in this field, so that such incidents can be better prevented and controlled in future too. Recommendations and Conclusion Oil firms like Exxon should realize that the effects of a single oil spill can be devastating for people, animals, marine life, and the environment for a long, long time. Considering this, the managers of oil firms should be aware of the recommendations and suggestions like that government bodies and non-profit environmental organizations give in this regard. This is the ethical and professional responsibility of all oil firms, especially those that transfer oil in bulk volumes. A proper system should be made to educate all concerned employees about the consequences of oil spills on humans, animals, and environment. Similarly, all employees should know how they can play their part in preventing oil spills. This should be given top priority and formal training should be given to employees regarding this matter. Finally, the top management should personally administer the implementation of oil spill prevention strategies and actions. One more thing is that although firms have contingency plans, they rarely practically test such plans. It is necessary to test contingency plans to see if they are still effective or not. In addition, as technological and environmental changes occur, such plans should be revised accordingly to reflect the latest techniques that can be used to control oil spills. The recommendations of government and non-profit environmental organizations should be utilized here too. Oil spill prevention and control procedures must be formally defined by oil firms as these steps will more likely stop oil spills from happening.

Critical review of Collier and Fearons articles Essay

Critical review of Collier and Fearons articles - Essay Example Fearon and Laitin had taken data for the period of 1945 to 1999 from 161 countries which had minimum half a million population. On the other hand, Collier and Hoeffler have focused on the data from 1960 to 1999 of 98 countries and have used econometric model to predict civil war. The paper would critically review the articles for the operational definitions and measurements of key theoretical concepts for their validity and reliability. The article broadly tries to examine the various factors that may lead to civil unrest and insurgency in countries across the across. The authors have used the data on 161 countries for the period 1945 to 1999, made available from Singer and Small, 1994 and updated to include Kargil and Eritrean wars. They have consciously scrutinized and refuted the three popular beliefs which could have caused civil wars. They are: prevalence of civil war in 1990s was due to cold war and changing pattern of societies across the world after WWII; ethnic and religious diversity facilitate make countries vulnerable to internal conflicts and civil wars; and ethnic and political grievances are strong contenders for propelling civil wars. The authors have concluded that the major cause that may lead to civil war and insurgency is the socio-economic conditions of the regions where poverty is rampant. The article has extensively looked at various factors of unrest like civil war, insurgency and ethnicity. Civil war is broadly defined as public revolt against the state policies that tries to overpower the state machineries of administration to gain leverage. Ethnicity describes the demographic segmentation of the population based on culture, race and color. Insurgency is the most violent form of internal conflict where armed groups, using guerrilla techniques attack civilians and government machineries for their vested interests. Thus, insurgency primarily is associated with killing and threats to damage of public private property in order to

Personal development as a strategic manager Dissertation

Personal development as a strategic manager - Dissertation Example Most of these refugees come from Eastern Europe thus the school is characterised with children joining at different times of the year. Because of this attribute the school has a higher number of pupils in the school who require specialist help. My role within the organisation is at a senior level as ‘Reading Consultant, the main duties include, teaching, delivering specialist reading intervention programmes and supporting teaching assistants delivering targeted support to children who are underachieving . My key area of management in this institution is the responsibility to develop Reading throughout the school. My work also involves working closely with parents and the community as well as developing partnerships with local schools. Taking into account the nature, scope and the underlying problems in this primary school it is evident that there is need to adopt specialised skills in order to execute the underlying task and responsibility in this organisation. 1.1. Organizatio n Strategic Direction STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES OF THE ORGANISATION The goals and objectives of this institution are :- To provide exceptional and inspirational teaching across a broad and intellectually stimulating curriculum. To offer excellent pastoral care in a school that is safe, healthy, secure and environmentally aware. To raise the profile of the school as a centre of academic excellence. To offer all children the opportunity to explore and develop their talents through the provision of extra curricular programme. To optimise the use of the school’s resources including staff, ICT, infrastructure, land and buildings for the benefit of current and future pupils To enhance the school’s facilities for sport, music and the performing arts. To strengthen partnerships with the newly established children’s centre. According to Mintzberg on his research on the roles of strategic manager on the perspective of organisation strategic direction, the categories of strateg ic management roles that he provides includes interpersonal, decisional and informational. It is important for managers to possess the relevant skills and experience to perform the underlying roles. Interpersonal roles mainly involve relationship of managers and the stakeholders within and outside the organization. These roles include being the organisational figurehead in which the acts as a symbolic head with unique status and authority and this involves myself speaking to the community on issues mainly education, and learning matters. Secondly concerns leadership where the subordinates are lead and this may involve indirect interpersonal role which include supporting teaching assistants and overseeing the adherence to the time table. Under this there is liaison where the manager effectively manages the information centre where network skills are enhanced, activities involved are collaborating with the local schools to enhance sharing of resources, expertise and skills. Decisional roles include managers acting as entrepreneur in which they initiate changes that aims at improving the organisational projects at various levels. Disturbances handler is another role where the manager is expected to deal with staff and any form of activity to stabilize the organisation, this include harmonising the learning process among children from various ethnic groups. Strategic managers also make decisions regarding the resource allocation making

Response to the Movie Gallipoli Essay Example for Free

Response to the Movie Gallipoli Essay One of the interesting things about Australia’s history is that the nation was originally a colony of Great Britain. Over time they slowly acquired their independence without war or any kind of revolution, which is rare when looking through the past of many countries like the United States, Brazil and many other places. Although this might be seen as a good thing, the lack of a battle caused the nation’s identity to be pretty much nonexistent the following years after they were already considered their own nation. The movie Gallipoli illustrates how the World War I was important in helping Australia find their identity and create a sense of patriotism. Australian moviemaking had its highs and lows through the Twentieth Century. After the 1970’s, a new age of Australian films started to flow from the country and â€Å"historical films became the most visible internationally† (Bordwell 628). Gallipoli was a film made in 1981 by Peter Weir. The movie not only tells the story of two young men from Australia going to the war, but at also attempts to portray the Australian identity that many Australians had sought for many years. One of these identities is the mateship where today Australia is known. We can see that in the movie just by following the two main characters through their journey. Frank and Archy meet and suddenly they are best friends. Together, they move forward in the story and help each other to achieve common goals. When Frank joins the light horse because he finally reunites with Archy, his other â€Å"mates† get upset and do not approve of the fact that they are losing a friend. When they are reunited in the war zone, they are happy that they are together again. This goes on to display the whole idea of war and patriotism. The movie is also very clear when trying to show the several landscapes that Australia has to offer. We see the city, where the shots are not so wide so all the buildings are closer together giving an overcrowded feeling while in contrast we see the countryside where the viewer sees vast deserts. Right at the beginning where Archy is betting to race with one of the character, we see the desert and how it stretches for miles and miles, while racing he still goes through trees and a stream exposing the diversity one can find in Australia. There are also shots of mountains, those shots are very wide and portray the grandiosity of the country. We also see the relationship of Australians and the Indians represented by Archy’s friend from his hometown. In the movie we also see how joining the British to go to the war was a way of supporting Australia, reinforcing their patriotism and defending their country. One of the character says that the reason they area going to join the British in Turkey, is because â€Å"if we don’t stop them there, they will end up here† (Gallipoli 1981). The young men going to the war were happy that they were able to fight for the country. After they arrive at the beach in Gallipoli, we see them having fun, even though they are at a war zone and their lives are on the line. When they finally get to fight, we hear them shouting that they are doing this for Australia. Towards the end of the movie we see pride and dignity contrasting with and the suffering of being at the war. World War I was important in helping Australian creating their identity. The movie Gallipoli not only explores how the World War I was responsible in creating the Australian identity but also explore other national that today are a representation of that country, like of example the idea of mateship that today is worldwide know to be part of the Australian culture. The viewer also sees the richness of the Australian landscape like the cities, the countryside, and the nature with mountains, deserts, forests and rivers. The movie also shows how the war was important in enforcing their patriotism for their country by showing the young men going to war as happy as they can be, proud that they are able to fight for their country. It is ironic to see how Australia had a pacific independence however they were only able to find their identity after they went to fight in a war.

The Coca Plant :: Botany

The Coca Plant Erythroxylum coca Lamark is a tropical shrub of the order Geraniales and the family Erythroxylaceae. Two tropical genera of the dicotyledons totaling approximately 250 species of trees and shrubs compose this family. Family characteristics are alternate, undivided, lobeless, toothless leaves, and small flowers in clusters from the leaf axils with persistent calyces with five lobes or sepals, five petals often with appendages, ten persistent stamens united at their bases, and three styles. The fruits are small drupes. (see Everett, 1981and Angiosperms in Brittanica Online) The name Erythroxylum comes from the Greek erythros, red, and xylon wood. Lamarck described the species E. coca in 1786. (Plowman,1982) Distribution Erythroxylum coca is cultivated in Africa, northern South America, southeast Asia, and Taiwan. It grows from 2-4m (8 feet) tall. The plants thrive best in hot, damp situations, such as the clearing of forests, but the leaves most preferred are obtained in drier locations, such as on the sides of hills. (Boucher) The Plants are found mainly in relatively small areas of Peru and Bolivia, the major producing countries. The upper Huallaga Valley, along a tributary of the Amazon in Peru, produces 60% of the world's coca. In Bolivia, the crop traditionally was grown on steep eastern slopes of the Yungas region of the Andes Mountains at elevations of 1000 to 2000 meters. However, in recent decades, the lower-elevation Chapare Valley overtook the Yungas in production, and cultivation is now expanding into lowland rain forests. (see "Coca" in Britannica Online) History & Traditional Uses Archaeological evidence indicates that coca was domesticated by 1500 BC. In pre-Columbian times, coca was a major element of the economy (Hastdorf, 1987). Andean peasants and miners traditionally have consumed coca by sucking wads of leaves, keeping them in their cheeks for hours at a time. Often the coca is combined with chalk or ash, which helps dissolve the alkaloids into saliva. Coca chewing reduces hunger pain, and workers say the leaves give them strength and endurance to work for many hours at high altitudes, often in extreme cold. Some of the healthiest and hardest-working Indians on the Colombian Amazon the Yukunas consume enormous amounts of coca leaves daily, but this not a problem as they have time to raise their crops, hunt, fish and supply their food. (Linales) Perhaps the most ancient use of coca in South America is its employment in various shaman practices and religious rituals.

Advantages and disadvantages of franchising Essay

Franchising has exhibited dramatic growth since it offers some significant advantages when compared to other distribution methods. When starting a business or venturing into entrepreneurship, it is imperative for one to consider all options. One of the most suitable ways of achieving such an objective is to buy into a franchise. Business are able to expand by franchising in order to gain access to external capital that can fund growth of new outlets or stores that are run by committed and profit driven franchisees CITATION Fra12 l 1033 (Frazer, Merrilees, & Wright, 2012). These franchisees are more likely to be focused and diligent than employed staff. Therefore, Franchising allows individuals to become their own boss. For people who want to apply franchising in the Chinese market, they may wish weight all options. Franchising is one the best solution for transitioning from employment to a business owner. There are several businessmen and businesswomen who have thrived and successfully transformed their financial lives through franchising. Venturing into franchising has its benefits and also some drawbacks. Besides the startup capital required to become a franchisee, there is little planning and thought that is required when setting up the new business. The new store or outlet has to conform to the image that the franchisor has already set up. Small details such as the color scheme, to the inventory items to be placed on the menu or on the shelves, are all determined by the franchisor. This arrangement makes is easier for the franchisee to set up the business and increases the chances of success CITATION Hun11 l 1033 (Hunter, 2011). Most franchisors give the franchisee detailed training in order to ensure that they develop the required level of expertise to achieve profitability. This allows the franchisee to have a piece of minds knowing that the company is steering the business in the right direction. One does not have to develop an advertising strategy or solid branding as this is done by the franchisor. Although franchising might be perceived as an ideal solution by some individuals, others cite throwbacks of the business model. Therefore, they prefer multi-level marketing or network marketing, which allows one to become a distributor of a product of and established and a reputable company. This allows one to leverage on the advantages of being a franchisee whilst overcoming some of the disadvantages associated with it CITATION Hun11 l 1033 (Hunter, 2011). Firstly, multilevel marketing or network marketing products usually have a good level of branding in that, consumers are able to recognize the product that is offered to them. Although franchisees also have this advantage, they do not have the freedom to come up with unique structures when it comes to the distribution business. Network marking will, therefore, allow one to have free reign to market their business in whichever way they like CITATION Fra12 l 1033 (Frazer, Merrilees, & Wright, 2012). Another advantage that network marketing has over franchising is that little startup capital is required to become a distributor. One is only required to pay a little amount of money to join a network, while some networks require annual fees CITATION Hun11 l 1033 (Hunter, 2011). Additionally, one may be required to purchase the product in advance so that it can be delivered to the customers as the sales are made. All in all, the total amount of money required to run a profitable network is far less than what is required when one is a franchise. References BIBLIOGRAPHY Frazer, L., Merrilees, B., & Wright, O. (2012). Power and control in the franchise network: An investigation of ex-franchisees and brand piracy. Journal of Marketing Management, 11-29. Hunter, R. (2011). MASTER FRANCHISING AS AN ENTRY STRATEGY: MARKETING AND LEGAL IMPLICATIONS. The Coastal Business Journal, 16-27. Source document